ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Finance
Exchange rate notification No.83/2022 - Customs 
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 , the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs hereby makes the following amendments in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Notification No.78/2022-CUSTOMS , dated 15th September, 2022 with effect from 27th September, 2022.
In the SCHEDULE-I of the said Notification, for serial No.11 and the entries relating thereto, the following shall be substituted, namely: -
SCHEDULE-I
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Sl.No.
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Foreign Currency
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Rate of exchange of one unit of foreign currency equivalent to Indian rupees
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-
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11.
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Pound Sterling
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87.45
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84.40
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President's Secretariat
Change of Guard Ceremony not to be held on January 14, 21 and 28
The Change of Guard Ceremony will not take place between January 14 and 28, 2023  due to rehearsals of Republic Day Parade and Beating Retreat Ceremony.
Prime Minister's Office
PM greets people on Odia New Year and Maha Bishuba Pana Sankranti
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people on Odia New Year and Maha Bishuba Pana Sankranti.
In a tweet, the Prime Minsiter said;
"Greetings on Odia New Year and Maha Bishuba Pana Sankranti.
May the new year be filled with abundance of happiness.
May the spirit of brotherhood in our society be furthered and may everyone be in best health."
(
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Driving Training Institute at Naya Raipur
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways had received a proposal from the Government of Chhattisgarh for setting up of an Institute of Driving Training and Research  at Naya Raipur. The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has approved the project with total cost of Rs. 17 crore excluding taxes in August 2017. The time frame to complete the project is 24 months from the date of sanction.
This information was given by Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Chemical & Fertilizers Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
INTER SERVICE AFFILIATION OF THE ASSAM REGIMENT AND ARUNACHAL SCOUTS WITH 106 AIR FORCE SQUADRON
The historic affiliation of Assam Regiment and Arunachal Scouts of Indian Army with 106 Air Force Squadron was formally signed at a solemn ceremony at Tezpur  on 15 Feb 2021. The ceremony commenced with inspection of the Guard of Honour by Maj Gen PS Behl, Colonel of The Assam Regiment & Arunachal Scouts. Thereafter the `Charter of Affiliation’ was signed by Maj Gen PS Behl and Gp Capt Varun Slaria, Commanding Officer, 106 Squardon.
The affiliation of the Regiment with the SU-30 Squadron of Eastern Air Command will assist them in development of mutual understanding of joint ethos, capability, limitations and core competencies of other service through common understanding of military tactical doctrines and concepts in the contemporary conflict environment.
The Assam Regiment was raised on 15 Jun 1941 and stood its ground to turn defeat into victory winning six Battle Honours in the Second World War. The contribution of The Regiment in Burma Campaign and in 1971 Indo-Pak war in changing the course of the battle is well documented in history. Drawing troops from the seven sister states of the North-East India, the regiment is decorated with One Ashok Chakra, nine Param Vishishth Seva Medals, two Maha Vir Chakras, eight Kirti Chakras, four Padma Shrees, four Uttam Yudh Seva Medals, four Ati Vishisth Seva Medals, five Veer Chakras, 20 Shourya Chakras, 13 Yudh Seva Medals, 180 Sena Medals, 35 Vishisht Seva Medals, 66 Mention-in-Despatches and numerous Commendation Cards.
106 Squadron, IAF, was raised on 11 Dec 1959 and currently operates the air dominance fighter Sukhoi 30 MKI. It is the most decorated squadron of the Indian Air Force with three Mahavir Chakras and seven Vir Chakras. The Squadron has been awarded with the prestigious President's Standard.
The contribution of the Air Force Squadron and the Assam Regiment in the 1971 War and the combined war waging efforts of the Regiment and Eastern Air Command in the Burma campaign speaks volume of their martial ardour, resoluteness and dauntless courage.
The gathering was addressed by Maj Gen PS Behl in which he spoke of the importance of affiliation and its far reaching impact in the present day. The General Officer highlighted that the idea behind the affiliation was aimed at greater understanding of each other’s operational ethos, building camaraderie and espirit-de-corps. This enhanced synergy and understating of each other’s strengths will act as a ‘Force Multiplier’ within our armed forces.
Later, Maj Gen PS Behl flew a familiarisation sortie on Sukhoi 30 MKI to acquaint himself with its capabilities. The ceremony was also marked by aerobatics display by the formidable Sukhoi 30 MKI.
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AA/BSC/VBY
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Special Service and Features
Hon'ble Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Dr L Murugan met with Hon'ble Minister of Railways Shri Ashwini Vaishnav
Hon'ble Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Dr L Murugan met with Hon'ble Minister of Railways Shri Ashwini Vaishnav to discuss new broad gauge railway line from Erode to Palani via Dharapuram.
It is a long pending demand of people of Dharapuram to have broad gauge railway line for all round development of the people and boost agri-economy of the region.
Dr Murugan also requested to start a regular express train from Varanasi to Rameshwaram via Kancheepuram. It will help to connect the heritage city Kancheepuram with Ramayan circuit to boost domestic tourism.
Shri Ashiwini Vashnav gave detailed thought on both the requests and assured for all possible help to develop and upgrade railway network in Tamil Nadu.
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Ministry of Finance
DIN System of CBIC to come into force from tomorrow
The Documentation Identification Number  system of Central Board of Indirect Taxes  will come into existence from tomorrow, i.e., on Friday, 8th November 2019. This path breaking DIN system in indirect tax administration has been created as per the direction of Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and from now onwards any CBIC communication will have to have a Documentation Identification Number. Government has already executed the DIN system in the direct tax administration. This step is to further the Government’s objectives of bringing transparency and accountability in the indirect tax administration also through widespread use of information technology.
Revenue Secretary Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey said, “To begin with, in the indirect tax administration, the DIN would be used for search authorisation, summons, arrest memo, inspection notices and letters issued in the course of any enquiry. From now onwards, any communication from GST or Custom or Central Excise department without a computer generated DIN, would be treated as invalid and shall be non est in law or deemed to be as if it has never been issued.”
“The DIN system would ensure greater accountability and transparency in the indirect tax administration as well. It would also provide the taxpayer a digital facility to verify any communications. Further, the DIN system would be extended to other communications by the end of next month. No communication would be issued without DIN except only if it is in the specified exceptional circumstances,” said Dr Pandey.
CBIC Chairman Shri Pranab K. Das said, “This measure would create a digital directory for maintaining a proper audit trail of such communications. Now all such specified communications with DIN would be verifiable on the online portal cbicddm.gov.in and any communication which is not in conformity with the prescribed guidelines as per the DIN related Circulars dated 05.11.2019 shall be treated as invalid.”
It would be pertinent to mention here that while specifying such exceptional circumstances the CBIC Circulars related to DIN dated 05.11.2019 say that whenever any such manual communication would be issued, it would be necessarily required to specify reason of issuing such a communication without DIN and written approval of the competent authority shall be obtained within 15 days.
CBIC has specified that any communication issued manually under exceptional circumstances would have to be regularised on the system within 15 working days of its issuance.
The CBIC, in exercise of its power under section 168 of the CGST Act, 2017/ Section 37 of the Central Excise Act, 1944/ Section 151A of the Customs Act, 1962, is implementing the system for electronic generation of a Document Identification Number  for all such communications sent by its offices to taxpayers and other concerned persons.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Promote Indigenous Varieties of Rice
Indigenous varieties of rice are being promoted through varieties programmes. 574 indigenous varieties of rice have been propagated and tested at more than 10,000 farmers’ fields, involving state agricultural universities, KVKs and NGOs through a project entitled “Mainstreaming Agricultural biodiversity conservation and utilization of the agriculture sector to ensure ecosystem services and reduce vulnerability”. Nutritional profiling of 300 selected rice varieties has been done for market linkage and better price to the farmers. Farmers are also being trained on conservation, improvement and use of traditional/ indigenous varieties through participatory variety selection. Further for access to seeds of these indigenous varieties, community seed banks have been established at community level involving KVKs and Self Help Groups in remote and tribal areas of the country and a total of 26 community seed banks conserving >4000 native landraces and farmers’ varieties of different food crops including rice have been strengthened and established.
Communities and farmers conserving and promoting indigenous rice varieties have been conferred with Genome Savour awards by Protection of Plant Varieties Protection and Farmers’ Rights Authority  and following awards have been given since 2009-10:
- Plant Genome Saviour Community Award : 13
- Plant Genome Saviour Farmer Rewards : 12
- Plant Genome Saviour Farmer Recognitions : 19
Rice varieties are also being promoted under National Food Security Mission in 193 districts of 24 states and Union Territory. Similarly, “Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India ” a sub scheme of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana is implemented in seven Eastern States viz., Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to address the constraints limiting the productivity of “rice based cropping systems” in Eastern India.
Five rice varieties viz., Lalat and Improved Lalat  as low GI and Swarna, Sambha Mahsuri and Shaktiman  as intermediate GI have been identified and all these varieties are in seed chain and are being cultivated by the farmers.
There is no certification for GI  in rice.
The details of indigenous rice varieties/ germplasm listed are as under:
Total rice germplasm conserved at National Gene Bank: 1,09,834 including traditional varieties , land races  and varieties released and notified .
Varieties registered with PPV&FRA: Total 2047 varieties have been registered which include 1645 farmers varieties.
This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
Coastal security drill ‘Operation Sajag’ conducted by Indian Coast Guard along the west coast
‘Operation Sajag’, a drill involving all stakeholders of the coastal security construct, was conducted by the Indian Coast Guard along the west coast on September 18, 2023. The drill facilitates revalidation of the coastal security mechanism and bring awareness among the fishermen at sea.
During the drill, extensive checking and verification of documents and crew passes of all fishing boats, barges and craft at sea was undertaken. A total of 118 ships including those from Customs, Marine Police, Ports & Indian Navy participated in the drill.
In order to strengthen the coastal security construct, a slew of measures have been incorporated ranging from Issuance of Biometric cards for the fishermen, colour coding of fishing boats as per each state, manning of fish landing centres and access control at entry/exit check points, coastal mapping, designating specific marine band frequency for security agencies, training of marine police personnel by Indian Coast Guard amongst others.
Biometric card readers have also been issued to security agencies. Besides monitoring of dhows, island security and community interaction programmes have been institutionalised under the coastal security construct.
The day-long drill is conducted every month and the outcomes are further progressed for improvement in the coastal security construct. The drill enables to verify implementation of various coastal security measures besides bringing out important lessons and highlight trends in coastal security.
Ministry of Tourism
Ministry of Tourism Signs MOUs with MakeMyTrip Private Limited and Ibibo Group Private Limited to strengthen hospitality and tourism industry in the country especially in pandemic times
Key Highlight
- Ministry of Tourism has already signed MoUs with Easy my Trip, Clear trip and Yatra.com
- The primary objective of this MoU is to provide anextensive visibility to accommodation units, which have self-certified themselves on SAATHI on the OTA platform
Ministry of Tourism in its ongoing efforts to strengthen the Hospitality & Tourism Industry especially in the times of the pandemic, has signed the Memorandum of Understanding  with MakeMyTrip  Private Limited and Ibibo Group Private Limited on 17.08.2021. Ministry of Tourism has already signed MoUs with Easy my Trip, Clear trip and Yatra.com.
The primary objective of this MoU is to provide an extensive visibility to accommodation units, which have self-certified themselves on SAATHI  on the OTA platform. The MoU also outlines both parties to encourage Units to register on NIDHI and thereby on SAATHI and encourage local tourism Industry with appropriate safeguards for curbing spread of COVID-19. The idea is also to gather more information on accommodation units in order to gain actionable insights & designing evidence based & targeted policy measures and to promote safe, honourable and sustainable tourism.
The event was organized under the arrangement between Ministry of Tourism and Quality Council of India  for implementing measures for strengthening the Indian Hospitality & Tourism Industry.
The signing MoU was done in the presence of Shri Rakesh Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Shri Sanjay Singh, Deputy Director General , Ministry of Tourism, Dr. A Raj, Senior Director, QCI, Shri Mohit Singh, Deputy Director, QCI, Dr. Mahavir Prasad Tiwari, Deputy Director, QCI, Shri. Abhishek Logani, Chief Business Officer-Hotels, MakeMyTrip  Private Limited & Ibibo Group Private Limited and Shri. Venkatesh Ramakrishna, SVP – Corporate Affairs, MakeMyTrip  Private Limited & Ibibo Group Private Limited.
The Ministry of Tourism and MakeMyTrip  Private Limited & Ibibo Group Private Limited will endeavour to take necessary steps to encourage and promote strategic and technical co-operation in the Indian hospitality & tourism sector for overall benefit in the identified areas through the MoU. It is expected, that, in the future more OTAs will come forward for signing such MOUs in order to strengthen the Hospitality & Tourism Industry of India.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
Government efforts to improve the living conditions in Urban Areas
Urban Development is a state subject. However, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs  facilitates and assists States/Union Territories  through its flagship Missions/Schemes/ Projects - Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation , Smart Cities Mission , Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban , Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban  and Metro Rail projects in development of urban infrastructure. These missions / schemes / projects are implemented by the States/UTs in accordance with the Mission guidelines. Central Assistance under these schemes is released to States / UTs. AMRUT mission focuses on coverage of water supply and development of sewerage & septage management, storm water drainage, green spaces, parks and non-motorised transport in 500 Mission cities; SCM focuses on sustainable and inclusive development in 100 smart cities to improve the quality of life of all, including the most marginalized and low-income groups in urban areas; SBM focuses on improving the sanitation in all Urban Local Bodies in the country. PMAY-U provides houses to all eligible urban households including slum dwellers in all ULBs. In-situ Slum Redevelopment  component of PMAY-U Scheme specifically covers slum redevelopment. The houses constructed under PMAY-U are provided with basic amenities including water supply and toilet. Redevelopment of slums under ISSR also addresses the issue of environmental pollution strengthening aspects of cleanliness and hygiene. Urban Transport projects / schemes help in reducing road congestion and environmental pollution in urban areas. Government of India has issued National Urban Transport Policy , 2006, which encourages safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable public transport in the cities.
This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Kaushal Kishore, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Prime Minister's Office
PM Greets Isreal and Jewish People on Hannukkah
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people of Israel and Jewish friends all over the world on Hannukkah festival.
In a tweet Shri Modi said
"Chag Hannukkah Sameach to the friendly people of Israel and Jewish friends all over the world. May the festival bring peace and light in our lives and kindle more warmth to the relationship between our people."
The tweet was tagged to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin of Isreal. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted in Hebrew.
Ministry of Railways
BIKE RALLY BY RPF OF ECOR TO MARK AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV
Railway Protection Force  of East Coast Railway marched a Bike Rally to mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. General Manager  East Coast Railway Shri Sharad Kumar Srivastav flagged off the Rally from ECoR Headquarters, Rail Sadan, yesterday in presence of Chief Security Commissioner, RPF & DIG Shri P.V.S. Santharam. The aim of Bike Rally is to highlight and spread the message and awareness on Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and achievements of Railway Protection Force.
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Ministry of Labour & Employment
Twenty-seven lakh crore Aatmanirbhar financial package allotted to create employment opportunities for unorganised sector and migrant workers
National Career Service  Project implemented for transformation of the National Employment Service
Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shri Rameswar Teli in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, today, said that as per the Employment and Unemployment survey conducted during NSS 68th round  and Periodic Labour Force Survey  conducted during July 2017 – June 2018, July 2018 – June 2019, July 2019 – June 2020 and July 2020 – June 2021, percentage share of regular wage/salaried workers among workers according to usual status separately for rural and urban areas of India are given below:-
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Round
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percentage share of regular wage/ salaried workers among workers according to usual status
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Rural
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urban
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NSS 68th round 
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8.8
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43.4
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PLFS 
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13.1
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47.0
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PLFS 
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13.4
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48.7
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PLFS 
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12.5
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48.8
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PLFS 
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12.1
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46.4
The written reply stated that employment generation coupled with improving employability of the youth is the priority concern of the Government. Government has taken various steps for generating employment in the country through various schemes viz. Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme , Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme , Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana  and Deendayal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission , Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana  etc.
It was also mentioned in the reply that the Government has provided fiscal stimulus of more than rupees twenty-seven lakh crore as part of the Aatmanirbhar financial package specifically to create employment opportunities for migrant workers, workers for unorganised sector, strengthening of MSME Sector and promoting rural economy. It includes plethora of initiatives for all these sectors. Government has also implemented the National Career Service  Project as a Mission Mode Project for transformation of the National Employment Service to provide a variety of employment related services like job matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, apprenticeship, internships, etc.
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Senior Citizen Entitlement of Employees
Department of Social Justice & Empowerment has informed that there is at present no proposal in that Department for lowering the age of senior citizen. Government employees become entitle to pension on retirement. There is also no proposal to increase or decrease the age of retirement of Central Government Employees.
The salient features of the pension entitlements of employees retiring from the Central Government are as under:
- A Government servant retiring in accordance with the rules, after completing a qualifying service of not less than 10 years, is entitled to a pension @ 50% of his last pay or 50% of average emoluments for the last 10 months, whichever is more beneficial to him/her.
- After completion of 80 years of age or above, additional pension @ 20% to 100% is payable to the retired Government servant.
- A retired/retiring Government servant is entitled to, at his/her option, a lump sum payment, by commutation of a maximum of 40% of his/her pension.
- On retirement, a Government employee is entitled to a retirement gratuity based on his/her emoluments and length of qualifying service.
- On death of a Central Government pensioner, the family is entitled to a family pension the amount of which is 50% of the last pay for a period of seven years, or for a period up to the date on which the retired deceased Government servant would have attained the age of 67 years had he/she survived, whichever is earlier. Thereafter, the amount of family pension is 30% of his last pay. The amount of family pension is also increased by 20% to 100% after the family pensioner attains the age of 80 years and above.
Vi. The family of a Government servant, who dies while in service after having rendered not less than seven years’ continuous service, is entitled to a family pension 50% of the last pay for a period of ten years. Thereafter, the amount of family pension is 30% of his/her last pay.
This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.